Samajwadi Janparishad is a political party registered with Election Commission of India.It has units in 10 states of India.It believes in Gandhian Socialism..Joshy Jacob of Kottayam,Kerala is the National President of the party.Lingaraj Azad of Kalahandi,Odisha is its All India General Secretary.The party believes that Globalisation is a counter-revolution and hence opposes it.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Unforgettable life in Koraput (Numa) / Pattanayak, Biswanath

In the year 1946 after being released from
the jail Numa (Malati Chaudhury) (She was arrested for participation in Quit
India movement) set up Baji Rout Chhatrabas in Angul in memory of Saheed Baji
Rout with the objective of providing education to the children of distressed
political workers of princely states (Gadajat) of Orissa. Initially only the
children of the workers from the Gadajat were admitted to the Chhatrabas. Later
since 1949 the children of poor tribals and Harijans (Schedule Castes) were
admitted. Thus the tribal boys and girls from Koraput district came to be
admitted to the Chhatrabas. In 1948, a meeting was convened by the great
soul Gopabandhu Chaudhury in his residence at 'Bakharabad' to discuss the remedy
for the repression on tribals by awakening the their consciousness. In this
meeting were present Sage like Acharya Harihara, revered Sarngadhar Dash,
revered Nabakrushna Chaudhury, Mother Rama Devi, Numa, Vyasji and the volunteers
working amongst the tribals. It was decided to form an institution to work
amongst the tribals. A suitable name was looked for during the discussion.
Revered Gopababu said, "Minu (Malati Devi) is writing in the Journal
krushak a serial under the title 'Nabajeevan' to bring about a new life amongst
those for whom the proposed institution will work. Let us keep that name for the
institution." This proposal was unanimously accepted and the institution
was named as 'Utkal Nabajeevan Mandal'. Revered Sarangadhar Das became its
president where as Revered Gopbandhu Chaudhury, its Secretary. Malati Devi,
Acharya Harihara and Mother Rama Devi and others became its members. After this
Revered Gopababu and Mother Rama Devi began Padayatra (moving on foot)
through the tribal belt of Orissa. At that time there was no road. He was
overcome with grief by seeing the pitiable condition of the tribals. He gave the
entire responsibility of Utkal Nabajeevan Mandal to Numa and asked her to work
for their development and awakening their consciousness. Then onwards the
Utkal Nabajeevan Mandal was managed under the direction of Numa and she, till her
death engaged herself in unwavering service to the tribals.

A women training center was started in
Angul to train the women to work in tribal belts by staying with tribal people.
From various districts the girls got the training so also were trained the
widows and deserted women. Though these girls to start with were not enough
educated yet the way they were taught three RRR's and were so trained that they
could cause an awakening among the tribals to fight against injustice,
repression and torture of the money-lenders, revenue police and forest
officials.

Numa was requested to visit Koraput to see the
conditions of the tribals. She came to Gunupur region of the district and was
impressed by the tribal culture when she saw the simple living of the tribals,
their costumes, their frugality, their cleanliness etc. Whenever she cam to
Koraput she stayed with them, took food with them and relaxed in their verandah.
Durign festive occasions she used to roam, dance and sing with them. The tribals
accepted her as one of their own. They used to openly discuss issues with her
both Numa and Bapi (Nabakrushna Chaudhury) were very fond of dancing.

It wont be an exaggeration to say that
Numa was available where the tribals were in distress. She used to be overcome
with grief and shock to find the condition of neglected tribals. She opened
centers of Utkal Nabajeevan Mandal in tribal areas and made efforts to raise
their consciousness. In Koraput district many centers were opened in different
regions. The workers of the centers at Gunupur, Durgi, Bisam Cuttack, Rayagada,
Kolasakata, Koraput, Talabonda, UparaBonda, Patangi, Sunabeda, Nawarangpur etc
began fighting against the injustice and oppression. This resulted in the end of
the exploitation by the money-lenders, police and foresters etc. The movement
for freedom from bonded labour continued. Numa used to visit all the centers.
Due to this the rate of interest charged by the money-lenders reduced. The
practice of the tribals working without any wage came to an end. The fear of the
people reduced. To a large extent they mustered courage to tell the truth. Numa
moved around the forests and mountains of Koraput and worked. Wherever she felt
the pain of climbing or descending the mountains people carried her happily on a
cot. She had gone into very very remote areas. In Gunupur region a disease
called Yaws was rampant and it was very painful for the person suffering from
it. Trained workers of Utkal Nabajeevan Mandal along with doctors were able to
eradicate the disease. The workers were also attending the patients suffering
from leprosy. These workers were engaged in the eradication of illiteracy, awakening
of consciousness amongst the women, prohibition and building self confidence
within the tribals.

In 1950, in the drought hit regions of
Ramanaguda of Gunupur, Chandrapur and Bisam Cuttack people died of hunger. Receiving
this news Mother Ramadevi and Malati Devi both came to these areas and
saved the children by opening food centers and getting them attendance of the
doctors. The government when realised the gravity of the situation sent the help
as there was no arrangement for transporting the food materials. She suggested
the government to engage four elephants of the king of Jaipur for the purpose of
transporting the food materials to the relief centers. Government accepted her
suggestion and engaged two elephants in the relief work. Wit the help of these
elephants the food a materials could be reached at the appropriate place.

The money-lenders in connivance with the then
Zamindar of Jaipur took the possession of the lands of the tribals and in the
same land the tribals were made to work as labourers. After independence on
realising this the tribals in 1951 requested the government to take
steps towards the return of such lands to them as the possession by the
money-lenders was taken without their knowledge. As the government did not heed
to their request they decided, by informing the money-lenders and the government
to take possession of their earlier land. On this basis a movement was launched
under the name Bhu-Satyagraha. At the instance of Malati Devi these tribals
began cultivating these lands. The money-lenders in connivance with the
police harassed these tribals and filed cases against them. The tribals were not
taken to jail but used to be made to sit in the police station for long hours.
This continued for a few months till the government found a solution to it by
consulting with the tribal leaders. The government deputed Mr. Gopinath
Mohanty as special officer with independent power to settle on the spot the allegations
by the tribals against the money-lenders. The decision of Gopinath Babu went in
favour of the tribals. Therefore the money-lenders took the shelter of court.
Some of them however without going to the court tried to solve the problem
through discussion. At that time Numa had been to Gunupur area. Gopinath Babu
went to meet her. Numa told to Gopinath
babu that she on hearing from Biswanath (Pattanayak) his (Gopinath babu)
sympathy for the tribals felt like touching his feet. She was saying so to
an officer of the government which her husband, Nabakrushna Chaudhury heading as
Chief Minister This demonstrates her commitments towards the tribals. The
thought and vision of Numa and Bapi were revolutionary. They opposed injustice
and untruth. She used to be disturbed at others distress. Her heart bled for the
neglected tribals and Harijans, exploited and suppressed people. Those who
worked for instilling courage in them and for their development they always
enjoyed her affection and sympathy.

She was firm in her view that the Naxals
are working for poor and deprived. Therefore whenever she heard the woes of the
family members of Naxalites she reached them to console. She heard that the
police is harassing the family members of Naxal Ramchandra Madkami. She went to
see the family members of Madkami. Madkami's village was in a remote area of
Korukonda block of Malkangiri sub-division of Koraput district. Yet both Numa
and Bapi could reach the village and on finding the misery of the family members
they burst into tears. Madkami had two wives. There was no food in the house.
The body was scarcely covered. They also visited the village Nandapur and met
the wife and daughters of Naxal leader Purosattam Pali. They were disturbed on
hearing the police atrocities on the Pali's family members.

The Naxal leader Nagbhubshan patanaik was
sentenced to death. This saddened Numa and Bapi. They made efforts To save
Nagbushan. By collecting signatures from various persons they submitted mass
petition to the then president V. V. Giri. On the basis of this petition,
personal letters and appeals Nagbhusan was spared from death sentence. But had
to suffer imprisionment. when Nagabhusan was in Rajmahindri jail he fell ill.
Numa and Bapi met repeatedly the then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Sri P.V.
Narashima Rao requesting him to make proper medical facilities available to
Nagabhusan. In Gunupur area, the police tortured the innocent Garanda tribals
dubbing them as naxalites. Numa and Naba Babu along with some workers, camped in
Garanda village for three months and infused courage in the people. She brought
to the notice of the people the torture that police was inflicting on the worker
Baikuntha Patra. But she did not approve of all the activities of
naxalites. She condemed the activities which she thought are not proper. They
were shocked at the ruthless murder of Dinabandhu, a poor pawn broker of the
Badamul village of the Kamnagnda block. he was slaughtered to death on sleep
before the eyes of his wife. what hurt them the most was that they had nothing
but a handful of grains. Thy remarked that if the naxalites continued doing such
activities, they would lose sympathy of the people.

In another incident, the tribal people of Balikhama and
Sankalpa villages filed a case against Harihara Mishra, a pawnbroker of
Paikapada village, who had forcibly taken away their lands. Harihara Mishra
entangled the ignorant people in legal formalities. The tribal people without
finding anyway took possession of their land and started cultivating without
bothering for the legal repercussions. Harihara Mishra and his nephew in an
attempt to prevent them from cultivation shot dead two persons on the
field. This incident lead to the arrest of 42 tribal people, who were given
lifetime imprisonment. Numa and Bapi visited both the villages and with the help
of Sri Ratan Das, a noted social worker, took the uphill task of rescuing the
tribal people. It took three years to collect the necessary evidences. The then
chief minister Biren Mitra, on the request of Naba babu, appealed to the
President of India to free those people. Finally, they were released, after a
lot of efforts. Out of the 42, 7 persons expired in the jail. Out of the 35
released, 28 were from Balikhamana and 7 from Sankhalapada village. Since the
tribal people suffered a lot, fighting for their own lands, Numa and Bapi did
everything to help them. Like Numa and Bapi, Subara Panigrahi of Manjusa Village
was working on the hilly regions of Mahendra Tannaya for the neglected tribal
people. He was gunned down by the policemen and was accused to be a naxalite.
Many tribal villages were burnt down. The tribal people had to hide in villages
to escape the wrath of the people. On hearing this incident, Numa sent MLA
Biraja Prasad Ray for investigation. Biraja babu and I moved about the hilly
regions of Mahendra tanaya and collected the necessary information. We also had
discussions with some tribal people who had hidden themselves in the forests.
After probing into the matter, Biraja Babu sent an informative report to Numa.

The Bonda tribe of Koraput district are the most backward and
neglected clan. after moving about with Numa and bapi for 2 days, we deceded to
take up the lower Bonda Kadamguda village as the central village in the Bonda
region for the Navjeevan Society. Intially Sister Radhamani, Sita and Shantilata
stayed at the centre. In the first three months there was no problem. But after
that they had to face the atrocities of the police. Two policemen of Mudulipada
police station visited the nearby village Khuriguda situated near Kadamguda.
They asked Guru Sima who was sleeping on the verandah to climb the tree and
bring down the pot of liquor that was hanging and serve them. As Guru Sima was
ill, he refused to do so. This angered the two policemen and they attacked Sima
with bow and arrow which was lying there. This was brought to the notice of the
women workers (called apa) by Samantrisani and Sunadhar Sisa. They
could not tolerate the injustice done to Sima and raised a protest. Police
lodged cases against them. The judicial proceeding started.I had to attended the
court on all the dates. late T Sangana, the then MP and Ratan Babu had for also
many a times attended the court during the proceedings.Numa bapi had also
attended the proceedings. Following the judgment, Kalia jaman and Pandra
jaman were suspended. Both Numa and Bapi had a soft corner for the tribal
people. They could never tolerate any injustice done to them and were
always ready to stand by them. They were revolutionaries propelled by the
kindness and sympathy . I, personally have given a lot of pain by dragging
both of them to a lot of places where these tribal people have been oppressed or
faced problems.

I had been asked to write on Malati Devi's experience in
Koraput but she had also worked a lot for the tribal people residing in
Phulbani and Ganjam, many of them are worth mentioning . She raised a
protest against the policemen who had arrested the Sarvodaya workers in Phulbani
under the instigation of the pawn brokers. She was also instrumental in the
release of sister Radhamani Sahoo, a worker of Burlubaru Mandal who was arrested
by the policemen while fighting for the cause of the tribal people. She was
protesting against the policemen who had looted the money and gold of tribal
people. On raising a protest the police gave back the belongings of the tribal
people but arrested Srimati Radhamani Sahoo.

Numa's love and affection for the people is unforgettable. In
the back of her mind she was always concerned for the tribal people of Koraput.
When she was ill, she used to enquire about the people living in those places
and would ask why she was not taken to Koraput anymore? Today, she is no more
with us but her work has made her immortal. I pay my homage to her for her
service to the tribal people.Translation
:Madhulika PandaCourtsey : The Tribal Tribune